A Different Kind of Friend
by Jasmine2
Summary: AngelPretender crossover...Slightly AU, Darla is back and the Centre has some unusual plans for Jarod.
1. Chapter 1

A Different Kind of Friend  
  
The man ran down the alley at top speed. He was getting tired and his legs were starting to ache. He looked back to see if his pursuers were still behind him, and he didn't notice the man turn the corner into the alley. They collided and both men fell to the ground.  
"Ouch." One of the men said.  
"Are you ok?" the other asked.  
"Yeah. You?"  
"Fine." He took a look back and saw a shadow running his way. "I'm really sorry, but I have to go!" He said getting up.  
"Wait. Are you running from someone?" the other asked getting up as well.  
"A lot of someones."  
"Well, come with me. I can get you out of here real easy."  
"You don't understand."  
"Come on." The man grabbed the other man and ran back into the building he came out of and into a sewer access. They ran in silence for about five minutes before they finally stopped.  
"Thanks a lot for back there. I had no idea where I was going." The man said. "My names Jarod."  
"Angel." 


	2. Chapter 2

A Different Kind of Friend  
  
The pair walked in silence for a while, neither knowing what to say. Both had a lot of questions for each other. Who each other was, what were they doing in an alley at night. But Jarod had one very important question that kept nagging him, where were they going.  
  
"I don't mean to be rude," Angel said breaking the silence, "but why were those people chasing you?"  
  
"To make a long story short, I kind of 'worked' for them, I left, they didn't like my decision, they want me back." Jarod answered without giving away too much information about the Centre.  
  
"It must've been a very important job if they want you back so bad that they'll chase you down an L.A. alley in the middle of the night." Angel responded.  
  
"It's not that it was very important but.," Jarod paused and thought about what he was about to say and decided to change the subject, "Never mind. Where are we going if you don't mind me asking?"  
  
"Not at all." Angel said wondering why he all of a sudden decided not to answer his question. "We're going to my place, its only about five minutes from where we are right now."  
  
"Ok."  
  
They walked in silence for the rest of the trip until they hit a large metal door in which Angel announced their arrival. When Jarod walked in he couldn't help but comment on how big the place was.  
  
Angel laughed and looked Jarod in the eye and said, "This is only the basement."  
  
"WHAT!"  
  
"It's a hotel. Me and a few of my friends live and work here. Don't worry, as long as you're here, your safe. Well, from those people at least."  
  
And with that Jarod followed Angel to the elevator that would take them to the main floor where Angel would introduce him to his friends/co-workers.  
  
Well.how do you like it so far? Continue it/Stop it what? Reviews would be much appreciated. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own them, wish I did though :*(  
  
CHP 3  
  
The two men rode the elevato in silence. Angel could feel Jarod's tension and stopped the elevator mid ride.  
  
"What's the matter?"  
  
"Nothing. Just a little nervous."  
  
"Don't worry, there's nothing to be nervous about. My friends are really great." Angel reassured him.  
  
"I don't doubt that. It's just," Jarod paused and looked at the floor. "I have a hard time trusting people." Jarod didn't know why he was acting this nervous. Just think it's a pretend Jarod thought to himself.  
  
"You can trust us Jarod, believe me."  
  
Angel couldn't help but wonder what could've happened to Jarod that would cause him to be this untrustworthy. His mind kept coming back to the people who wre chasing Jarod.  
  
Angel started the elevator back up again. When the doors opened on the lobby floor no one was there. Angel walked over to the counter where the phone was and saw a note in Cordelia's handwriting  
~Angel,  
Me and the gang decided to go out and then are going to stay at my house for the night. Hope your night was eventful. See ya tomorrow.  
Luv, Cordelia~ "Well," Angel said, "I guess you won't be seeing the rest of the group tonight. There are a lot of rooms upstairs. You can choose one if you want."  
  
"Thanks"  
  
"Your welcome. Goodnight."  
  
"Night." 


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own them.  
  
Angel awoke to a sound coming from Jarod's room and walked to short walk to it to investigate. When he walked in and saw Jarod, he was covered in a thin sheet of sweat and was tossing and turning telling some imaginary demon to stop whatever it was doing.  
  
"Jarod. Jarod wake up."  
  
Jarod woke with a start and quickly looked around. The dream was the usual 'Centre nightmare' except that it was worse than the last few. Jarod looked up and saw Angel standing next to his bed.  
  
"Are you ok?" Angel asked his worry evident in his voice.  
  
"Yeah. Nightmare, that's all." Jarod answered still a little shook by his dream.  
  
"You have nightmares often?"  
  
"Almost every night. They're more like suppressed memories really."  
  
"Well, hey, its only 3:30 in the morning. Why don't we go back to sleep and talk about it later in the morning." Angel suggested knowing that Jarod was still tired.  
  
"Ok."  
  
Angel left the room and went back to his own room to get some more sleep himself. 


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own them.  
  
Back at Blue Cove, Miss Parker stormed into her office and plopped down in her chair. She couldn't believe they had missed Jarod again, and she had even seen him. She was thinking about how her father was going to react to such a close call that she never heard him come I until he spoke.  
  
"What the hell happened?" Mr. Parker said anger evident in his voice.  
  
"I don't know daddy. We chased him into an alley, saw him run into an old building and then he was gone." She said looking right at her father.  
  
"Well, don't let it happen again. We need Jarod back." he said to her in his usual yelling tone.  
  
"It won't."  
  
"It better not." With that he walked out of her office, leaving her to her thoughts.  
  
Come on Jarod, call. Just give me a little hint as to where you are.  
  
++++  
  
Sorry its so short. Got writers block for bout a week and this was all I could come up with. 


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own them.  
  
+LA+  
  
Later that morning, Jarod had gone downstairs to the main floor and just started randomly looking around. Angel wasn't awake yet, which he was ery glad about. He felt really embarrassed about last night and didn't really want to talk about it. Deep in his thoughts, he wandered into a room full of books. Jarod glanced around and noticed how old the books were. But when he took a harder look, he noticed what they were about: demons, spells, vampires and lots of other supernatural and unreal things. What the hell is this? If it had been one or two books he wouldn't have thought they were anything other than fiction, but there was a whole room full of those books! He picked up a book that said nothing on the front, just a picture of an ugly creature on it. He opened it and started reading it. He was so engrossed in the odd book he was reading that he was startled when he heard the front door open and voices. He immediately put the book back and made his way back into the lobby.  
  
The whole group was talking and puttind down piles of shopping bags when Jarod wakind in. A small, petite girl named Fred was the first one to notice that he was there.  
  
"Oh, hello there." Fred said in a small, yet confident voice. "What can we do for you?"  
  
"Hi. I'm just waiting for Angel to get up, I need to talk to him." Jarod replied trying not to sound to freaked about what he had just read.  
  
Another girl spoke this time. She seemed very confident around strangers, even ones twice her size. She was also very beautiful. "My name's Cordelia," she said extending her hand, "and these are my friends Gunn, Fred and Wesley."  
  
Jarod took her hand and said, "Hello, my name's Jarod."  
  
"So Jarod," the man named Wesley said, "how do you know Angel?"  
  
"We met last night." Jarod answered looking at the floor. "I us, kind of ran into him.literally."  
  
"Ouch. That musta hurt." Gunn said with a grimace on his face.  
  
"Not really."  
  
Just then, a groggy and very tired looking Angel came down the stairs. Cordelia looked up the stairs and saw him coming down. When he was at the bottom, she walked over, gave him a hug and told him good morning.  
  
"Morning everyone." He said. He looked over at Jarod and said, "Morning Jarod. Sleep well the rest of the night?"  
  
"Yeah. Thanks."  
  
An eerie silence fell over the six people. Jarod was the first to break the silence.  
  
"Well, thanks for the room Angel. I better get going." He said wakling towards the door.  
  
"You don't have to leave Jarod." Angel told him. To everyone else it seemed like Angel didn't want Jarod to go. Whether he just wanted to help him (they hadn't had a case in weeks) or he had found a friend in Jarod and didn't want to lose him, they didn't know. But, whatever it was, they didn't want a sad Angel on their hands.  
  
"Yeah Jarod it's ok. You can stay if you need to." Cordelia said.  
  
"No, I can't. I have some business to attend to." Jarod informed them.  
  
Angel thought about it for a second and remembered the people who were chasing Jarod in the alley the other day. "It's those people who were chasing you in the alley yesterday. Who are they?"  
  
"I told you who they were."  
  
"You gave me the quick version."  
  
"Ok. You wanna know the truth?"  
  
"Yes." Everyone said in unison.  
  
"Sit down then. It's a long story." 


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own them.  
  
After everyone was settled, Jarod began.  
  
"When I was little, I was stolen from my parents by a corporation called the Centre. They took me because I'm a pretender, a genius who can become anyone I want to be. They kept me there for about thirty years. When I found out they were using my abilities to kill people, I broke out. I've been out for about five years now and they've been trying to bring me back ever since. It's usually only Ms. Parker, Sydney, Broots and some sweepers, but now Ms. Parker's sadistic, psychopathic brother, Mr. Lyle, is after me as well. Which is why I can't stay here. If they find me here, Lyle may kill you." Jarod told them.  
  
The others didn't know what to say. What could they say?  
  
"Well, since you told the truth about yourself, I guess I should tell you the truth about me. I'm a."  
  
"Vampire." Jarod interrupted.  
  
"How did you know?" Angel asked astonished that Jarod knew what he was.  
  
"You see, I was snooping around this morning and I came across your library. Then I thought back to the alley and I just put two and two together." Jarod explained. "I'm sorry about snooping though. I shouldn't have done that."  
  
"Its ok. I would have done it too." Angel reassured.  
  
"I do have one question though."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"Why didn't you kill me when we went into the building or the sewers?"  
  
"I have a soul." Angel told him. "I don't kill humans any more."  
  
"He doesn't even drink bagged human blood. He drinks pig's blood instead." Fred exclaimed.  
  
"Oh. Ok." Jarod got up and started walking to the door, but turned around when he got there. "I have to go back to my apartment to see if anything was found by the Centre. If it's ok, I'd like to come back and possibly stay for a bit." Jarod said smiling.  
  
They all smiled as Jarod walked out the door. Little did they know that that would be the last time they would see Jarod alive. 


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own them.  
  
+Blue Cove+  
  
Miss Parker had been sitting in her office for nearly two hours when her phone rang.  
  
"What?" Parker yelled into the phone. She was in a bad mood, as usual, and decided that she was going to take it out on the caller.  
  
"How come you never say hello?" The caller asked.  
  
"What do you want Jarod? Wanna rub in how you got away?"  
  
"Listen, I know how your father can be after things don't go his way and I was just calling to see how you were." He said in his defense.  
  
"If you want to know, why don't you come to my office and I'll tell you."  
  
"Ha! Over my dead body Parker."  
  
With that, the phone line went dead and Parker hung up the phone. It had been a long day and she decided to go home early. So, she got her stuff and headed home. I hope that stupid lab rat gets run over by a semi. She thought as she started her car and drove off. 


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. If I did, they'd be locked in my basement right now :p j/k.  
  
+LA+  
  
Jarod took a cab to his apartment to get his few possessions. God I hope I'm not making a mistake. Jarod had never decided to stay wit someone unless it was only for a day, and even then he was very hesitant to do so. But something about being near those people made him feel.safe?!  
  
Jarod gathered his things and wandered outside and stopped to look at the stars. Suddenly, four men came out of nowhere and dragged him into an alley next to the building. Jarod's first thought was the Centre, but then he noticed the lack of suit and decided it wasn't. They threw him up against a wall and hit him a few times. They stopped and looked into a dark corner, then held him up by the arms facing said corner. Jarod turned his head and saw the yellow eyes and grotesque looking face. Shit! These guys are vampires! I've got to get out of here. He started struggling a bit but stopped when a beautiful woman stepped out and started walking towards him. She walked around him looking him up and down like he was some kind of show animal.  
  
"Well my boy," the woman said as she dragged a finger down his cheek, "I think you'll do just fine."  
  
"Just fine for what?" He asked trying to make it seem like he wasn't scared.  
  
Her face changed into that of a vampire and she answered, "For showing my darling Angel what he's been missing out on." She lowered her head down to his neck and bit. He flinched but didn't try to pull away. He knew it would just hurt a little more if he did. She drank deeply and just when his heart was about to stop, she released his neck. A puzzled look came over Jarod's face. He wasn't dead yet. He didn't know whether that was a good thing or not. The wman then drug her mail down her neck until a small amount of blood ran out. For some reason, Jarod didn't know, his head hypnotically fell towards the bloody neck and he started drinking her blood. After a minute, Jarod's body went limp in the four mens' arms.  
  
The woman smiled evilly at him and looked at her minions. "Come on, lets go home."  
  
"But what about Angel?" One minion asked.  
  
"We'll deal with him later. We have other stuff to plan for." She looked down at Jarod's limp form and moved a piece of hair from his face. See you tomorrow night Angel. 


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I, sadly, don't own the characters, but Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, the TNT Network and whoever thought up of The Pretender do!!!(hint hint on who to steal them from ((((()  
  
+Hyperion Hotel+  
  
Cordelia pace in the lobby with a worried look on her face, "Where is he. He so should've been back by now." She said as she kept pacing.  
  
Gunn got up and put his hands on her shoulder. "Dude, you're making me dizzy. Jarod's fine. He's probably just trying to figure things out, that's all. Right Angel?"  
  
"Yeah. He just learned about vampires and demons and such. Give him time, he'll be back." Angel reassured. I hope.  
  
"Angel, its almost morning. Don't deny that there is something terribly wrong here." Cordelia said hysterically.  
  
Just then, the phone rang. "Angel Investigations we help the helpless." Cordelia said in the happiest tone she could muster.  
  
"Hello is Angel there?" a female voice asked.  
  
"Yes, hang on a minute." Cordelia gestured to Angel and said, "It's for you."  
  
"Who is it?"  
  
Cordelia shrugged and handed the phone to Angel.  
  
"Hello." He said questioningly.  
  
"Hello Angel." A seductive voice said.  
  
Angel was dumbfounded when he heard the voice. It couldn't be her, she was dead, he knew because he had killed her and she dusted right in front of him.  
  
"Darla." He said softly so no one else would hear.  
  
"Surprised you remembered my voice." She stated as she sat down on a bed next to a sleeping body.  
  
"How could I forget it?" Angel said. There was silence for a minute until it dawned on Angel. "So, you're what Wolfram and Hart brought back in that box."  
  
"Yup. It was an interesting experience to say the least. One I hope not to have to repeat." She said with a bit of malice in her voice that Angel knew was directed at him.  
  
"Well my boy, it's getting late and the sun will be up soon."  
  
"Wait. Why'd you call me?"  
  
"You'll see. Oh, by the way, that new friend of yours was very.friendly." Darla laughed as she hung up the phone.  
  
"No." Angel said half to the dial tone and half to himself. He turned to the rest of the group and gave them all a sad look. "We have a problem."  
  
Darla turned to the sleeping form on the bed and kissed it softly. "See you tonight Jarod." She walked out of the room closing the door behind her. 


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I own none of it.  
  
+The Centre+  
  
A nervous Broots was running down the hallway towards Miss Parker's office. He got there and just barged right in without knocking startling Miss Parker slightly.  
  
"Haven't you ever heard of knocking Broots?" Parker yelled at the techie.  
  
"S-s-sorry Miss Parker but.I think I found something." he said stuttering half way through his sentence.  
  
Parker just sat there looking at him impatiently. "Well?!"  
  
"Oh, yeah. Umm, well, I was going through the Centre mainframe making sure that my new security program was running correctly and to see if any one, specifically Jarod, had gotten in lately, and I came across this one section that was.weird."  
  
"How so?"  
  
"Well, I could tell that whatever it was had been in the mainframe for a while but why my program hadn't picked it up confused me, so I figured Jarod had found out about my program and put something in the mainframe to, uh, hinder it, so I hacked into it thinking it was Jarod's and, uh, found out it wasn't."  
  
"Wow Broots. We should give you the medal for courage now shouldn't we. You opened a Centre file without me having to yell at you." She said sarcastically.  
  
"You would give me one if you knew who it belonged to."  
  
"And who does it belong to?" Parker asked annoyed.  
  
"Mr. Raines."  
  
"Raines! Did you copy the files, find out what it was about?"  
  
"Actually, I figured you'd ask that so I just printed them out." Broots said proudly. "But I uh, I don't understand what it all means. The things he wrote about don't make any sense whatsoever."  
  
"Let me see them." Parker said sticking out her hand.  
  
Broots handed them too her and she quickly skimmed them over. Sighing, she put the papers down and turned to Broots, "Broots, go get Sydney. Maybe he can understand this."  
  
Broots ran out of the room and returned seconds later with Sydney in tow.  
  
"That was quick."  
  
"I was already on my way here when Broots found me." Sydney told her. "What do you need Parker?"  
  
"I need you to take a look at these papers. I know they're Raines's and I know that they're about Jarod and the Pretender Project, what I don't know is what it is saying." She said handing the papers over to Syd.  
  
Sydney read over each page carefully and when he was done, he looked as if he was going to laugh.  
  
"What is it Syd? What is Raines talking about?" Miss Parker asked.  
  
"If I read this correctly, which I'm hoping I didn't, then Raines believes that he can not only make a pretender without a conscience, but one which lives forever. And, from his reports, he thinks he can do this, by turning Jarod into a, uh.vampire." Sydney said laughing at the end of his sentence.  
  
"A vampire?" Ms. Parker said breaking into hysterics.  
  
A very familiar voice broke their laughter. "He thinks its true."  
  
Miss Parker and Sydney stopped laughing and looked at the man standing in the doorway. "What the hell are you doing here Lyle and what are you saying?" Parker asked obviously upset that he was in her office.  
  
"I was walking by and I heard your conversation, and you shouldn't be laughing. I came across some of Raines's old files and found out that he has believed in vampires, witches, demons and all of that sort for decades. I thought he was crazy but decided to check for my self and it's all true. I walked around the city one night in the "bad part" of town and asked around. Sure enough, the third person I asked was a vampire. It had fangs, yellow eyes, incredibly strong, the whole nine yards. If Raines's wants to pull it off, I don't doubt that, if he got the right guy, he could do it."  
  
"Why are you telling us this? You could've gone straight to Raines and, if he succeeds, put yourself back in the Triumverete's good graces."  
  
"As much as I want to see Jarod suffer, I know how he works, he will do us no good if he doesn't care about what happens to others. Plus, he'll still hate us and, being a vampire, it will make him, not only harder to catch, but an extreme liability to the Centre which means he will have to be killed and that's a lot of money down the fucking drain. That's why."  
  
"So, you're saying you'll help us stop Raines?" Broots asked cautiously.  
  
Lyle took a deep breath and then answered, "Yeah, that means I'll help you. But, if we catch Jarod, he's being brought in."  
  
"Then lets get going." Parker said getting up.  
  
"Uh, Miss Parker. Where exactly are we going?" Broots asked.  
  
"Back to LA. I have a feeling that Jarod is still there." Parker walked out of her office with the others close behind her. 


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I own none of it.  
  
+LA+  
  
Night had once again fallen over the city of Los Angeles and with it came the awakening of a new and powerful force.  
  
+DARLA'S PLACE+  
  
Jarod's eyes started to flutter open just as the sun had set. He was confused at first when he saw the room he was in. It had dark blue walls with off white carpeting; and the bed he was currently laying in had crimson silk sheets and a matching velvet comforter.  
  
The door opened and a tall blonde woman walked in with a very seductive look on her face. "Well, look who decided to wake up!"  
  
"Where am I, and who the hell are you?" Jarod said defensively.  
  
"My name's Darla, but you can call me sire." Darla said walking towards the bed.  
  
The images of the previous night came back to Jarod and he quickly jumped out of the bed. "Wait wait wait wait wait. If my memory serves me right, which it sometimes doesn't so if I'm wrong you can laugh in my face, I could have sworn last night that you were a vampire." He said walking back into the wall.  
  
Darla sauntered up to Jarod with a smirk on her face until there was less than a foot between them. "I'm sorry Jarod, but you're memory is absolutely correct."  
  
Jarod's face went paler than normal (at least for a vampire) and he slowly slipped down to the floor. "This can't be happening."  
  
"But it has Jarod." She said stooping down in front of him. "You are now one of us; you have nothing to fear, as long as you're with me. And once Angelus is back with us then no one, not even the slayer, will be able to stop us. No one will ever hurt you again Jarod, compared to the humans you are a god. When you are stronger, everyone will fear you and they will cherish you. You are a part of the Order of Aurelius, Jarod, the strongest vampire line ever to exist, there is no reason to be afraid anymore. I can show you what it's like not to live in fear."  
  
Jarod thought about it what she was saying. Never having to live in fear again; never having to worry about The Centre capturing him or shooting him; becoming stronger than The Centre could ever dream of being. He could take down The Centre, make them pay for what they did to him, make Raines and Lyle and Sydney pay for the tortures they put him through and for stealing his life. With Darla he could get his revenge. "Show me.sire."  
  
Darla smiled and stood up extending her hand to Jarod's to help him up. He accepted it and stood up and smiled at her. He let her lead him out of the room and out of the house they were staying in.  
  
Darla turned her head to look at Jarod and her smile grew. She knew she had created a vampire so powerful that he might give Angel and the Master, if he were still alive, a run for their money. But, she would deal with Angel later, first she had to teach her new childe how to hunt, how to feed, how to kill and maim and massacre, and how to live life as a vampire. This should be interesting, she thought to herself.  
  
To all you Jarod lovers, sorry I turned him into a vampire. But, look on the bright side, he's might use his new powers to take down the Centre(((((( 


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I own none of it.  
  
+LA+  
  
Cordelia sat on the round couch that stood in the middle of the hotel. Her eyes were all red and puffy but she wasn't crying. She had cried all the tears she had and was now just sitting and sniffling. After some extensive research, and a lot of patrolling and asking around, they had confirmed the inevitable; Darla had killed Jarod. They didn't know whether she had turned him or not, but, for Jarod's sake, they were hoping she hadn't.  
  
Angel, Gunn and Wes all walked into the lobby where Cordelia was resting. For someone she had just met, she had taken the news very bad. Angel was overly concerned of her reaction because she had had a few friends that were not only killed by vampires, but turned as well, and she had barely shed a tear for them. Now, here was this complete stranger and she had cried her eyes out all day.  
  
"You gunna be okay Cordy?" Angel asked putting an arm around her.  
  
"Yeah. It's just that he was so nice and seemed so innocent. That Centre Corporation had taken his entire past from him, and now Darla has taken his future. If he's been turned, I don't think I'll be able to kill him Angel." She told him new tears starting to form.  
  
"Can't we just kidnap him and give him a soul like those gypsies did to you?" Gunn asked Angel.  
  
"It's not that easy. And even if we did do that, he'd still be a vampire, and then there's that whole 'perfect happiness' clause he's going to have to worry about. My only worry right now is that he was so intent on finding his family, what if he still wants to, just for the wrong reasons."  
  
"What do you mean?" Wes asked.  
  
"Well, when I was turned, the first people I wanted to kill were my family because I thought they had screwed me over, plus Darla said it would be a good idea and, at the time, I actually listened to her."  
  
"So?"  
  
"So, what if Darla puts the idea into Jarod's head that his family abandoned him; that they let the Centre kidnap him. If she goes about it the right way, she could convince him to kill them. Mainly because he knows that they knew where he was, but they never got him, or his brother, out. If she uses that angle, I don't think it will take much convincing to get him to decide that his family, along with The Centre of course, royally screwed up his life. She kind of has a way of making you see things her way." Angel explained to the group.  
  
"So what do we do?" Gunn asked.  
  
"We have to find them. If Jarod has been turned, which I think he has, he will probably still be a little confused as to how he is supposed to act and what he's supposed to do. If we can get him away from Darla and whatever minions she has, then maybe we can get him to see things our way, which is kind of the way he used to see things, you know, helping the helpless. But we have to get to him first."  
  
"But how exactly are we going to find them. This is a very big city and they could be anywhere?" Wes said.  
  
"We go to where this all began.Wolfram and Hart." 


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I own none of it.  
  
+ Centre Jet+  
  
Miss Parker looked at her watch to see what time it was. They were only 2 hours away from LEX and she had started to get really nervous.  
  
"Miss Parker, are you all right?" Sydney asked.  
  
"No. This whole thing with Raines and vampires and Jarod, it's just way too confusing for my taste. And what kind of self-respecting vampire would just kill someone just because they were asked to?" Parker answered.  
  
"I don't know." Lyle said jumping in to Parker and Sydney's conversation.  
  
As if the Powers That Be had been listening in, Broots found some very interesting information on his computer. "Umm, maybe this guy would." He said.  
  
"Who?" The three other passengers asked walking over to where Broots was.  
  
"Him." He said pointing to the screen. "It says here his name is Angelus; and from the looks of it he is not a nice guy at all. It says here he recked a little havoc in a small town North of LA called Sunnydale, California; and before that he.oh."  
  
"What is it Broots?"  
  
"He, uh, he went throughout Europe killing and massacring almost everyone he came across. In the late 1700's he killed almost every inhabitant of this little town in Ireland. Only a few people survived, and those that did, were either locked away for being what we would call a paranoid delusional, or killed themselves. He was given the nickname 'The Scourge of Euroupe'. He ran with a group of three other people, these two women named Darla and Drusilla, one which was his sire, don't know what that is, and the other was his childe and quite insane; and another guy named William the Bloody, given the nickname Spike because he tortured his victims with railroad spikes. Wow, I guess the Centre didn't want any surprises, they have a lot of detailed information on him."  
  
"Geez. I don't think I wanna meet this guy." Lyle said sitting down.  
  
"Well, can you find him?" Sydney asked.  
  
"Umm, I might be able to. If the Centre has already chosen him to kill Jarod than they have to know where he is. Just give me a minute.ah! Here we go. He lives in LA in a place called the Hyperion Hotel. It doesn't say a room number though. Huh, this is interesting."  
  
"What is?" Lyle said.  
  
"Well, if I'm deciphering this correctly than he runs a detective agency called Angel Investigations." Broots told them.  
  
"Why would an evil, massacring vampire run a detective agency?" Parker questioned.  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Well, if Raines plans on using this Angelus fellow to kill Jarod, than maybe we should get to him first." Sydney said.  
  
"Good idea. Then we should find a way to get prepared just incase he tries to kill us?" Parker said.  
  
"I really like that idea." Lyle responded.  
  
With their plan set, the four Centre employees set to work on how to protect themselves and what they were up against. 


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I own none of it.  
  
FYI: This chapter has a lot of Jarod thoughts in it. So, to refresh your memory, all personal thoughts are in bold. Have fun reading and please R&R(  
  
+LA+  
  
Darla and Jarod walked through the streets of LA in a comfortable silence. Darla knew that she had to train Jarod quick if she wanted him to be ready when Angel found out where they were, which probably wouldn't be long. As they walked down the street she started scanning for prospective kills, mostly the drunks, depressed, or injured; the easy ones.  
  
Jarod, on the other hand, had very different thoughts running through his brain; one of which was how he was going to get rid of his current headache. He had had one ever since they left the house, he didn't know why either, which kind of scared him seeing as he usually knew what was wrong with him; being a super genius and all. All he did know was that he had a constant pounding in his ears, which was probably contributing to his headache; and every once in a while, when they passed by a female, his hungry stomach would growl just that much louder. He figured he would ask Darla about that later. First things first though, he thought to himself, get rid of this headache!  
  
"Hey Darla, you got any pain killers on ya by any chance?" He asked.  
  
"Why do you need them?" She questioned back.  
  
"I have this killer headache that just won't go away, it's weird." He said rubbing his temples.  
  
She just laughed at him and kept on walking.  
  
Well, I'm glad SHE finds it funny! He thought as he followed her. "So, where exactly are we going?"  
  
"Don't worry my boy, we're almost there."  
  
Geez, does she always have to be this cryptic. What is it, a vampire rule; 'All vampires must be cryptic when speaking.' Cause its kinda annoying.  
  
Darla stopped all of a sudden and Jarod nearly plowed right into her. He noticed she was staring off and followed her gaze to that of two teenage boys walking through an alley together.  
  
"Follow me and keep quiet." She said as she silently walked towards the two teens.  
  
He obediently followed, keeping as silent as possible; although being stealthy was a lot hardered than it looked.  
  
The two boys noticed Darla and both got a big grin on their faces. "Well, what's a pretty little thing like you doing in a dark alley at night?" One of them said trying to act all big and bad.  
  
"Actually, me and my friend here were looking for some dinner. You think you could help out?" Darla answered seductively backing the one that spoke into the wall. Her face changed into that of a vampire and, before the boy even had time to scream, she had bitten into his jugular and drained him dry. His friend hadn't even noticed because he kept watching Jarod who wouldn't take his eyes of him, not even for a second. "Well Jarod," Darla said turning to him her vampire face still on, "your turn."  
  
"His turn for what?" The friend asked just noticing his buddy lying on the ground dead.  
  
With inhuman speed, Darla threw the boy up against the wall and covered his mouth tightly. She then bit into his neck just enough to puncture the skin. The boy yelled into her hand as her fangs withdrew and he saw her face. Darla looked at Jarod and watched as he stared at the now bloody neck. Unconciously, Jarod's face changed to his vampire visage and he took a step towards the boy, who was now crying his eyes out like a baby.  
  
"Bite down right where I did and the blood will just flow into your mouth. It'll be the sweetest thing you ever tasted, plus, that nagging headache of yours will go away."  
  
Jarod did as he was told. When the boy went limp in Darla's arms, she told him to let go. Once again he did as he was told and withdrew his fangs from the boy's throat. His chin was covered with blood, which was to be expected seeing as this was the first 


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story. Lots of rich people in big houses do.

Thoughts are in **bold!**

+LA+

The AI crew walked away from Wolfram & Hart with absolutely no new information. In fact, they had been turned away almost immediately after entering the building. Angel tried to use force to get in to see Lindsey but it didn't work. Lindsey had ordered them all to be removed from the premises without being harmed.

"Well that was a complete waste of time." Cordelia said.

"We didn't exactly have time to come up with a secret plan to break into the place Cordelia. It was either this way or wait a few more hours and try and sneak in. It would have taken too much time; time Jarod doesn't have." Wesley explained.

"Wes is right. I think we need to focus on finding Jarod right now. Why don't we head back to the Hyperion and come up with a plan. We can't just wander around LA looking for him and Darla." Angel explained walking to the car.

The other three members of the team agreed. They all got in the car and headed quickly back to the hotel.

+LAX+

Ms. Parker, Sydney, Broots, and Lyle had just landed at Los Angeles International Airport and were getting into their car. They had called ahead and had their car stocked with all the things they thought they would need when they confronted Angelus. They had stakes, holy water, and crosses. They were just hoping that it would be enough and they would know how to use these things if it came to it.

"Broots, did you find out where this Angel Investigations is?" Lyle asked.

"Yea. It's run out of an old hotel called the Hyperion Hotel. I have directions and it shouldn't be too hard to find." Broots answered. "What if this Angelus guy kills us the minute we go in there though?"

"Let's hope he doesn't. Maybe he will listen to reason. I mean, come one, an evil vampire that runs a detective agency. Something weird has to be going on." Lyle answered back.

"We are dealing with vampires, Lyle. All of this is weird." Parker said scowling at him.

The rest of the car trip towards the hotel was made in silence. No one knew what to even say.

**I just hope Jarod is alright. **Sydney thought to himself.

+Somewhere in LA+

Jarod stood staring at the body of the person he had just killed. While he was grateful that his headache was surprisingly gone, he felt sick to his stomach at the realization that he had just taken a life.

"What's wrong my boy?" Darla asked running her hand down Jarod's arm.

"I killed him." He said, staring at the body.

"Of course you did. You are a vampire now Jarod, it's in your nature to kill." Darla purred.

"No, it can't be. I don't want to kill people." Jarod said backing away from Darla and the bodies.

"You have to kill people. It's how we survive. Remember what I told you Jarod? We are gods compared to them. They are nothing more than cattle. You will kill!" Darla said following him.

Jarod just shook his head and continued to back away from her. "No, I won't!" Jarod screamed. He turned around and ran away from Darla as fast as he could. **I don't want to kill. I won't kill. I won't kill. I won't kill. **Every corner he turned continued to bring him face to face with more people. People that his demon was screaming at him to kill. He could hear the heartbeats of every single one. Smell their fear as he ran by them. At first, he didn't know where he was going to run to. All he knew was that he had to get away from Darla; away from those two dead bodies in the alley; away from the person he had killed**. I know. I will go to Angel. Cordelia said he didn't kill people anymore. He will know what to do. He can help me.**__And with that thought in mind, he took off towards the Hyperion Hotel. He was glad that he had good spatial memory and knew exactly where to go; or his idea would be a lot more difficult.

Back in the alley, one of Darla's minions walked over to her. "What are we going to do about him? What if he goes to Angel and tells him where we are?" The minion asked Darla.

"He can go to Angel all he wants. Jarod doesn't have a soul. Angel will either kill him or send him away. Either way, he won't help him. And if Jarod isn't killed, he will come back to us. He can't live without killing." Darla said. She paused and turned in the direction that Jarod had run. "He can't live without me."

Just to clear things up a bit: I am writing this story a little out of sequence with the series. I really like Fred and Darla so I decided to have them in the same story. So just think of it as Darla coming back to LA soon after Fred was saved from Pylea.  Sorry for any confusion.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story. Lots of rich people in big houses do.

Thoughts are in **bold!**

+Hyperion Hotel+

All of the AI crew was sitting around talking about how best to find Jarod. No one was coming up with anything good.

"Why don't we just go out and look for him. Can't you track down Darla or something?" Cordelia asked.

"I can't. Normally I would have known that she was in the city to begin with. But something is blocking the bond between us. I don't think I will be able to find her." Angel said.

"What about a spell?" Fred asked speaking up for the first time that night.

"What do you mean Fred?" Wes asked her.

"Well, if we can do a spell to find someone using something they own, or their blood. Can't we do something like that?"

"We could. Her blood runs in my veins. It would be difficult and it may not work right; but, we could try it." Angel said with hope.

All of a sudden, four people walked into the hotel. Angel could smell the fear on them the instant they walked into the lobby.

"Welcome to Angel Investigations. How can we help you?" Angel said walking towards them.

"We are looking for somebody." Ms. Parker said walking toward him.

"Well, why don't we go into my office and you can give me a description of this person and any details you have of their disappearance." Angel said.

Ms. Parker kept walking toward Angel and Sydney, Broots, and Lyle followed just behind her.

"We are looking for a man that is supposed to live here. A man named Angelus." Ms. Parker said putting her hands on her hips.

Everyone just stared at her. Angel took a few steps back in shock. **Who are these people? And how do they know about me?**

"What do you want with Angelus?" Cordelia said standing up. She walked up to them and stood next to Angel.

"It's kind of complicated, but we need to find him. We think he is…going to try and hurt a friend of ours." Lyle said, making something up on the spot.

Angel couldn't help but laugh at them. He didn't mean to, but it was kind of funny to him.

"And you were planning on doing what when you found him, exactly?" Angel asked regaining his composure.

"Well, ummm…" Lyle said, trying to think of something. **I can't exactly tell this guy the truth.**

"I am going to ask you this once, and you are going to answer me." Angel said taking a step towards them. "Who are you, and what, exactly, do you want with Angelus?"

This time, it was Sydney who stepped up to answer. "My name is Sydney. These are my associates, Ms. Parker, Mr. Lyle, and Mr. Broots. And we just want to talk with Angelus."

Angel just shook his head and began to answer. "First off, Angelus isn't the talking type. He is more of an action man. And second…"

Angel was cut off by the sound of the door slamming open and Jarod walking in looking like he had just run a marathon.

"Aah!" Cordelia screamed jumping behind Angel.

Gunn, Wesley, and Fred also slowly started to back away from the door. They knew what Jarod had become and they thought that he had come there to kill them all.

"Oh this is just fantastic." Ms. Parker said taking a step towards Jarod and removing her gun from its holster.

Jarod looked up and saw everyone standing in the lobby. He took a step back when Parker stepped forward only to be met with a closed door. He pushed his back up against it wishing that he could just disappear. He saw Lyle standing next to Parker and a low growl rumbled in his chest. The only thing flashing through his mind was his brother, Kyle, laying on the ground dead from a gunshot wound inflicted by Lyle. This man had killed his brother, and he was going to pay. His eyes slowly started changing color and as his demon made its way out. Lyle was finally going to pay for his sins. Without thinking, Jarod lunged toward Lyle with a roar but was instantly thrown back into the door by Angel. Angel delivered a quick, hard punch to Jarod's head and Jarod was rendered unconscious.

Angel looked down at Jarod and sighed. He had no idea what he was going to do.

Review, review, review! I love them. They help keep me going!


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story. Lots of rich people in big houses do.

Thoughts are in **bold!**

+Hyperion Hotel+

The only thing Angel could think of was to chain Jarod up in one of the basement rooms. On one hand he felt bad about chaining Jarod up. It wasn't his fault that he was a vampire or that he attacked that guy. On the other, however, Jarod was a vampire now. The only two options he could see for Jarod was to either ensoul him, or kill him. Angel really didn't want to do either. Jarod wasn't a human anymore; he was a demon, and nothing more. Putting a soul in the demon might bring the human Jarod back, but Angel knew there was a cost. Not just the 'happiness clause' that he had to worry about, but the guilt that came with the soul. Jarod's goal in life was to find his family and his own little slice of happily ever after. But now, Angel couldn't see how that could happen. Jarod was a liability to his family and every other human in the world so long as he was alive. He knew he should kill him, but just couldn't bring himself to do it just yet.

Angel sighed as he finished chaining up Jarod to one of the support beams. He knew it would hold. The chains that he was using were the same ones that Buffy had used on him after he had come back from hell. If they could hold him, then they could definitely hold a fledgling vampire.

While Angel sat in the basement waiting for Jarod to wake up, the rest of his team remained upstairs, dealing with the newcomers.

Cordelia stared at the newcomers wondering if they were from the Centre. She figured that they probably were considering they were looking for Jarod.

"So, might I ask who you people are and what you are actually doing here?" Cordelia asked in her best 'I am not to be messed with voice.'

"We told you who we are and what we are doing here. We are looking for Angelus." Lyle said calmly.

"Yeah, like I am really going to believe that. No one, other than someone with a death wish, goes looking for Angelus. I know who you people are. You are the ones that are hunting Jarod, the Centre."

"What do you know about the Centre?" Ms. Parker asked, her icy tone matching Cordelia's.

"We know that you kidnapped, used, and practically tortured Jarod. And when he decided that enough was enough, you still didn't let him go." Cordelia responded.

"My advice to you," Gunn interjected, "is to leave now. Because you seriously do not want to mess with us…or Jarod."

"What is wrong with Jarod?" Sydney asked. "He has never been a violent person. When he attacked Lyle, it seemed as if he wanted to kill him."

"Of course he did. If I was Jarod, I would want to kill all of you too." Gunn responded.

Wesley cleared his throat and stood up. "I think, the best course of action here, would be to be completely honest with one another. As you might have noticed, Jarod is not exactly himself. He has become a danger to all of those around him, which is why Angel has put him in the basement. Now, I think the first order of business would be for you to tell us why, exactly you are looking for Angelus. And just so you know, no response is going to sound too weird for us."

The four Centre employees looked back and forth between each other. The reason that they were there, other than to retrieve Jarod, still sounded completely insane to them. The idea of telling other people did not exactly sit well with them.

Surprisingly, it was Broots that spoke first. "Well, you see…we umm…well…we believe that the Centre wants to turn Jarod into a vampire and they want to use Angelus to do it. So we figured that if we found Angelus first that we might just find Jarod as well and then we can capture him and return him to the Centre…basically."

Wes, Cordy, Gunn, and Fred all looked back and forth at each other. Neither knowing what to say. Evil companies that wanted to turn people evil was nothing new to them. They were currently fighting Wolfram and Hart, a company that was practically evil incorporated, so the idea that the Centre wanted to turn Jarod into a vampire wasn't that far-fetched.

"I know that this all sounds completely insane." Sydney said. "But it is true. It is the plan of a man named Mr. Raines. And as crazy as it sounds…"

"Actually, it doesn't sound too crazy." Fred interrupted. "Ya see, we deal with vampires every day. We fight them, it's what we do. And as far as the Centre wanting to turn him into a vampire, well, that isn't so weird either. The crazy part is that they actually want to do it. Apparently they don't know anything about vampires cause there is no way that a vampire would willingly work with humans; not for too long before they killed them anyways."

"Okay, we answered one of your questions, now you answer one of ours. Why did Jarod attack Lyle? As funny as it was, it wasn't his normal behavior." Parker said becoming increasingly impatient with them.

"I figured that would be obvious by now." Angel said startling all of them by seeming to appear out of nowhere.

"What should be obvious, and who the hell are you?" Lyle asked standing up to Angel.

Angel looked at his team and then back to Lyle. He wasn't sure if it was a good idea telling these people the truth, but he really didn't have any other option at this point considering he had just chained Jarod in the basement. So, Angel did the only thing that he thought might actually help the situation. He put on his best condescending, evil Angelus face and took a step towards Lyle. A grin broke out on his face when Lyle took a slight step back, so he took another step forward.

"To answer your first question, Jarod is now a vampire." Angel waited for the initial shock to settle in for a bit with the Centre employees before continuing. "And as for your other question, Mr. Lyle, I am Angelus."

I know I haven't posted in a long while and I apologize. But I would like to thank everyone who has commented on the story and put it on their story alerts. I will try and post more frequently now that I am done with school. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think!


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